Glendambo to Uluru

---

Day 5 04/07/06 Glendambo to Coober Pedy

We awoke early due to the cold and noise of early rising campers and their generators buzzing all around us. We quickly organized breakfast and packed up the camper. Although we achieved this in almost record time, for us, we were still almost the last van to leave the park at 9.30am. The number of transient campers is unbelievable. We topped up with petrol and headed north along the Stuart Highway for Coober Pedy. We arrived at Coober Pedy just after 12 noon and booked into the Big 4 Oasis Tourist Park for 2 nights. By 2.30pm we had eaten lunch and set up the camper. We then walked into town and took in a few of the attractions, including the Underground Art Gallery, the Underground Catholic Church, the Tourist Information Centre, the Big Winch and the Old Timers Mine. As the Old Timers Mine has mining demonstrations included in the tour at 9.30am, we decided to return tomorrow morning to get the full benefit for the price. On return to the Oasis Tourist Park, we caught up with some washing and organized dinner. After the dishes were done, we sat the boys down to catch up on their diaries whilst I finalized our first Travelblog.

Day 6 05/07/06 Coober Pedy

It wasn’t as cold last night but it’s still cool! We turned on the heater fan for a while prior to getting out of bed, as we aren’t on the move today. While Daniel (my personal computer tech) and I went up to the Internet café to publish our first Travelblog, Leanne and William caught up with some domestics. We intended to all meet at the ‘Old Timers Mine’ for the morning demonstration at 9.30am, but the first blog entry took longer than thought. After publishing the blog and leaving the café, we realized that we had omitted some of your addresses that we obtained last minute. So we met Leanne and William at the ‘Old Timers Mine’ and did the tour, which was very informative and interesting. We then drove up the hill to the Catacombs Underground Church. It was slightly larger than the underground Catholic Church but just as unique. After this, Daniel and I returned to the café to rectify the omitted email addresses, as well as emailing the Travelblog organization to request you all receive our first blog. We hope you all received it. While we were busy sorting the Travelblog, Leanne and William did some shopping. At 1.30pm we returned to the ‘Old Timers Mine’ for the demonstration of the ‘Blower’ and ‘Tunneling’ machines which was interesting.

After driving back to the van park for lunch, we returned to the town centre on foot. We checked out the Opal Beetle, the Opal Cave, the Umoona Mine and then the Desert Cave Hotel. Here we had a drink in what’s reputed to be the only underground bar in the world with pokies, while the boys had a game of pool, it was different. We raced back to the van park, jumped in the car and headed north out of town to see the sun set over ‘The Breakaways’. They are about 22ks on the bitumen and a further 11ks on rough, corrugated & dusty gravel road. As we neared the lookouts, I thought I heard an unusual noise from the rear of the car. We stopped at the first lookout and as I thought, we had a punctured left rear tyre. As the sun began to set, we grabbed our chairs and nibblies and walked to the second lookout. We sat and enjoyed the magnificent sunset and the colour changes in ‘The Breakaways’ as the sun dropped below the horizon. Then it was time to change the tyre as darkness descended on us. It could have been worse, we could have been on the side of the road with the trailer on and the boot fully loaded! Once the spare was fitted, we had an uneventful trip back to the van park where we had dinner and bedded down for the night.


Day 7 06/07/06 Coober Pedy to Marryat

We were once again woken by early movers but didn’t get out of bed until 7.30am. After breakfast we began to decamp. I took the flat tyre to the local Bridgestone Tyre Service Centre and was informed that it would take at least 2 hours to repair, that was if and when the tyre fitter arrived for work! I decided I would go back to the van park and finish packing up the trailer. When I returned to the Tyre Service 2 hours later, we were informed a new tyre had been fitted as the old one was holed beyond repair. At $125.00 fitted, I didn’t think it was too bad for an outback town. Spare wheel in the boot, we hooked up the trailer, left Coober Pedy and headed north again along the Stuart Highway toward the border. We arrived at Marla around 1.30pm, had lunch and refueled ($1.65 lt). After lunch, we again headed north to Marryat Creek Rest Area where we camped for the night. Once the trailer was setup, we all went scavenging for timber for a fire the boys had been eagerly awaiting. There were three other vans here when we arrived but only two stayed with us overnight. One couple in a van, Steve & Jenny, from Ballina NSW, enjoyed a nice warming fire with us that night. This was the first time we had camped out with no 240 volt power (no fan heater!) and all of our 12 volt appliances seemed to work out well.

Day 8 07/07/06 Marryat Creek to Uluru

Although Steve and Jenny hit the road just after 7am, we stayed snuggled in bed till just after 8am. Once we had breakfast over with, we packed up the trailer in the morning sun and hit the road at 10.10am. We headed north on the Stuart Highway, across the South Australian / Northern Territory Border to Kulgera where we refueled ($1.60 lt). From here we drove to the Uluru turnoff, Eridunda and topped up the fuel ($1.70 lt). The Lasseter Highway led us towards Uluru, past Mt Connor (at first sight we thought this was Ayers Rock!) and after stopping for lunch along the way, we arrived at Ayers Rock Resort around 3.00pm. After setting up the trailer, we took a walk around the resort which is quite impressive. We bought some groceries at the resort supermarket (prices seemed quite reasonable) and returned to the camp ground on the resort courtesy bus. As the sun dropped, we walked up the hill behind our van, drinks in hand, to watch the colours change as the sun set over ‘The Rock’. This was spectacular to watch and both Leanne and I still find it surreal that we are actually here. As we are going to climb (weather permitting) and walk the perimeter of Uluru tomorrow, it was early to bed for all of us.




Day 9 - 08/07/06 Uluru and Environs

As planned, after eating breakfast and preparing lunch we headed off to Uluru. We paid our $50 entry fee ($25 per adult for 3 day pass) at the park entry gate and drove to the Information / Cultural Centre. We spent at least an hour looking at all the displays, gaining an understanding of the aboriginal mythology of ‘The Rock’ and surroundings. At around 11am we left the Centre and drove to the car park adjacent to the path that leads up the Rock. Unfortunately, the top walk was closed so we headed off on the perimeter walk in a clockwise direction, hoping that the climb would be opened on our return. As we returned to the perimeter track from looking at a waterfall and waterhole, I noticed what I thought were people climbing the Rock. As the wind was a little gusty where we were, we decided to take the opportunity to climb whilst it was open. As we joined the queue of people on the chain up the first incline, we came up behind a group of year 8 and 9 students from Broadbeach Qld. As some of the students were a little tentative of the climb and the heights, they were stopping regularly. On the first few stops, we gained a chance to catch our breath and take a photo, but after waiting for 2-3 minutes on several occasions for no real reason, we decided to cross the chain and pass them on the outside. This turned out to be a great move and we forged ahead to the top of the rock in just on 1 hour. The boys beat Leanne and I convincingly and were sitting waiting, as we reached the up most point. The views and sights on the way up and at the top were just spectacular, confirming in our minds that we had made the right decision to climb ‘The Rock’. After eating our lunch and taking more photos we decided to head back down. The decent took us about 40 minutes and wasn’t as taxing as the ascent. After a 10 minute break we decided to brave the perimeter walk, (perhaps not the smartest choice). The perimeter walk is a 9.4km walk. This time we headed off in an anti-clockwise direction. It was magnificent walk, but we have to admit we were very tired towards the end of it. We decided to head straight back to camp, and have an early night. We will catch the sunset on Monday.

Day 10 09/07/06 Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

We awoke to another cold morning with a cloud free sky. After breakfast and preparing lunch, we headed off for our day at Kata Tjuta. After stopping at the resort shopping centre for supplies, it was an easy 25 minute drive out to the Olgas. First we walked ‘The Valley of the Winds Walk’(7.4ks), having lunch about half way round. We then drove around to the ‘Walpa Gorge Walk’ (2.6ks) and walked it. Both walks were very interesting and we took heaps of photos. From here we drove back to the Cultural Centre so we could have some afternoon tea and fill in time before the sunset viewing of Uluru. At about 5pm we drove round to the sunset viewing car park and waited. As the sun set the colour changes were spectacular and I think Leanne took a record number of photographs in one session. Once the sun had set, we drove back to the resort camping ground for a well deserved rest. Tomorrow we are planning an easy, low key day relaxing before we depart for Kings Canyon on Tuesday.

---

Photos

Glendambo Park
Breakfast at Glendambo

Coober Pedy
Arriving at Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy
Underground Catholic Church

Coober Pedy
Old Timers Mine

Marryat
Overnight at Marryat

Uluru
The Rock

Uluru
On top of 'The Rock'

Olgas
The Olgas

Comments

[bayles family]

sounds and looks as thought you are having a fantastic time. We are all very jealous.... One thing that i do need to check on, is that it doesnt sound as though much school work is being done!!!!!! Ha Ha just joking, enjoy your time together and the opportunity. great idea, this system. Look after each other and look forward to hearing of your journey more. Love hugs and kisses. the kors-jones clan.

[Janine]

Hello
Glad to hear all your news - photos are fab!! look forward to the next installment. Talk to you soon All our love Scrivs